Cookie dough lovers, take note: the Wright County Egg Company of Galt, Iowa, has issued a recall of approximately 380 million eggs following several outbreaks of salmonella across the United States back in August.
Salmonella is a bacterial form of food poisoning. Several factors make this specific illness difficult to track and contain. First, it can be passed from generation to generation by healthy-looking chickens. Second, bacterial colonies can develop not just on the shell surface but inside the actual egg itself, meaning that no amount of cleaning or treatment can make the egg safe. Third, eggs are extremely prevalent in our diets; for example, one outbreak has been linked to a contaminated batch of banana pudding served at a restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, and health experts have warned about using uncooked eggs in recipes as varied as salad dressings and meringues.
Symptoms of salmonella occur between 8 to 72 hours after consuming the contaminated food. They include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and fever, and for those with weakened immune systems the infection can prove fatal.
Following outbreaks in California, Colorado, North Carolina and Minnesota, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have launched investigation into possible sources. Signs have pointed to a contamination in the barns of the Wright County Egg Company.
The Wright County Egg Company sells their product under several brand names, including Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp. Their eggs are sold in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Oregon, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
The Wright County Egg Company voluntary initiated the recall. Spokesmen for the company stress its “commitment to egg safety.”
So what’s an egg-lover to do? Check and see where your eggs are produced. It’s possible that they come from the Wright Company, and if that’s the case, you should probably just throw them away.
